A card-shaped storage case made of plastic, in particular for credit and cheque cards, is additionally known, which preferably has a rectangular outline as well as a storage compartment, which is defined by a base plate, a cover plate running parallel to this, and also side walls, which run perpendicular to the base plate or cover plate. A storage opening is located in one of the side walls through which the credit card or check card is inserted into the storage compartment. The essentially advantageous small external dimensions of such storage cases, in particular their small thickness, permit these storage cases to be accommodated in an extremely small space, as is necessary, for example for insertion into a wallet. However, this advantage can only be utilized for an article to be inserted into the storage case, e.g., for a credit or check card.
A card-shaped storage case made of plastic, in particular for credit and cheque cards, is additionally known, which preferably has a rectangular outline as well as a storage compartment, which is defined by a base plate, a cover plate running parallel to this, and also side walls, which run perpendicular to the base plate or cover plate. A storage opening is located in one of the side walls through which the credit card or cheque card is inserted into the storage compartment. The advantageous small external dimensions of such storage cases, in particular their small thickness, permit these storage cases to be accommodated in an extremely small space, as is necessary, for example, for insertion into a wallet. However, this advantage can only be utilized for an article to be inserted into the storage case, e.g. for a credit or cheque card.
From the known patent WO 94/29083 a card-shaped storage case made of plastic with internal storage compartments for articles, in particular articles of daily use, is known, in which the storage compartments are delimited at least partly by a base plate and a cover plate of the storage case running parallel thereto, and in a plane running parallel to the base plate and/or the cover plate are arranged adjacent to one another and separated from one another, and storage openings are accessible from the outside. In addition to the base plate and the cover plate the storage compartments are delimited by middle layers which comprise corresponding recesses for the articles. This multi-layered structure can be simplified so that the middle layer and the cover plate or the middle layer and the front plate are designed as a joint layer (plate) and are then adhered to the remaining plate. In this way the remaining layer merely forms a kind of lid, which has no side faces forming a recess groove, recesses and storage compartments. The disadvantage of this design is that the side faces delimiting the storage compartments are arranged in only one of the two plates, so that in this way the material weakens undesirably and there is a risk of the material breaking.
From the additional patent GB 1 146 623 a storage case for storing various different articles is shown. Said articles can for example be multi-purpose tools, a ruler, light, radio, clock, compass, calculator, thermometer, or comb needle. The disadvantage of this design is that the articles can easily fall out of the corresponding storage compartments and thus may get lost.
From a further patent DE 38 27 536 C a plastic key case is shown in a flat construction which comprises a support plate with storage grooves which are in the form of a swallowtail, and in which an article, for example a key, is held displaceably by corresponding side faces. The disadvantage of this design is that material weakening also occurs as the side faces delimiting the storage compartment for the key are only formed in one plate whilst the other plate functions merely as a cover plate without side faces.
From a further patent FR 739 682 A a pistol with a pistol butt is shown which is connected in one piece with the barrel of the pistol and forms a middle layer for a storage case, which is formed by the butt of the pistol, and comprises a base plate and a pivotable cover plate. This construction of a storage case requires a three-layered design which means that assembly costs are increased disadvantageously.
From a further document FR 2 656 779 A a card-shaped storage case is shown which comprises a base plate and a cover plate whereby the storage compartment is formed only in the base plate and the cover plate does not have side faces delimiting the storage chamber, resulting in undesirable material weakening.
Lastly, from the patent DE 38 34 303 A a case for personal objects is known which comprises a container section and a lid hinged pivotably thereon by a hinge. The container and the lid are provided on the inside with plastic foam mats with recesses which correspond in shape to the shape of the various articles of daily use. The disadvantage of this design is that a storage compartment for an article is delimited by side faces which project from connecting faces of the container section and the lid in the direction of the top of the container section or the bottom of the lid, and in addition, to form the storage compartments separate plastic foam mats are provided which increases the cost of production.
From the additional patent GB 1 146 623 a storage case for storing various different articles is shown. Said articles can for example be multi-purpose tools, a ruler, light, radio, clock, compass, calculator, thermometer, or comb needle. The disadvantage of this design is that the articles can easily fall out of the corresponding storage compartments and thus may get lost.
From a further patent DE 8 27 536 C a plastic key is shown in a flat construction which comprises a support plate with storage grooves which are in the form of a swallowtail, and in which an article, for example a key, is held displaceably by corresponding side faces. The disadvantage of this design is that material weakening also occurs as the side faces delimiting the storage compartment for the key are only formed in one plate whilst the other plate functions merely as a cover plate without side faces.
From a further patent FR 739 682 A a pistol with a pistol butt is shown which is connected in one piece with the barrel of the pistol and forms a middle layer for a storage case, which is formed by the butt of the pistol, and comprises a base plate and a pivotable cover plate. This construction of a storage case requires a three-layered design which means that assembly costs are increased disadvantageously.
From a further document FR 2 656 779 A a card-shaped storage case is shown which comprises a base plate and a cover plate whereby the storage compartment is formed only in the base plate and the cover plate does not have side faces delimiting the storage chamber, resulting in undesirable material weakening.
Lastly, from the patent DE 38 34 303 A case for personal objects is known which comprises a container section and a lid hinged pivotably thereon by a hinge. The container and the lid are provided on the inside with plastic foam mats with recesses which correspond in shape to the shape of the various articles of daily use. The disadvantage of this design is that a storage compartment for an article is delimited by side faces which project from connecting faces of the container section and the lid in the direction of the top of the container section or the bottom of the lid, and in addition, to form the storage compartments separate plastic foam mats are provided which increases the cost of production.
The present invention provides a card-shaped storage case which permits a secure hold of the articles in the storage case while retaining the advantageous small external dimensions and the resulting low space requirement for storage.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, articles are arranged next to one another in a storage case, as a consequence of which a small thickness of the external dimensions may be retained. The invention provides a storage case by means of which the articles can be removed or inserted into the storage case easily and rapidly.
In accordance with the invention, simple production of the storage case is assured while at the same time enabling easy accessibility of the article arranged in the storage case.
A further development in accordance with the invention is also advantageous, in which the accessibility of article arranged in the storage case, in particular very flat articles is facilitated.
Other embodiments of the invention have the advantage that the articles of daily use or consumer articles may have different thicknesses and a minimum wall thickness of the storage case is nevertheless maintained, and therefore greater rigidity of the storage case is achieved.
Further developments may be provided to render articles of daily use and/or consumer articles of larger size arranged in the storage case accessible by way of a simply executed swivel movement or sliding ability of a swivel plate.
Moreover, further embodiments, are also of advantage, as a result of which the articles of daily use and/or consumer articles are prevented from becoming detached from or sliding out of the storage compartments of their own accord.
The invention provides yet another embodiment as a result of which an extremely flat structural shape of the storage case may be assured. In additions the storage case may be inserted into or removed from conventional storage pockets, such as those provided in particular in document cases, wallets, or personal organizer folders.
Alternative embodiments provide even better access to the articles of daily use and/or consumer articles and with which a frictional engagement can increase the hold of the articles of daily use and/or consumer articles in the storage compartments.
A further development is also possible, as a result of which production of the storage case may be easily carried out and thus manufacturing costs, in particular for the production of injection molding tools, may be reduced.
An alternative embodiment allows all the storage compartments to be arranged solely in the base plate or the cover plate.
A further development allows the storage case to be adapted to a wide variety of articles of daily use and/or consumer articles in a simple manner and at low expenditure, whereby rigidity of the storage case is increased.
Moreover, a simply manipulated cover may be provided without there being any sharp points or projecting parts on the storage case which would prevent it from being inserted into storage pockets, e.g., in wallets.
A cover may be provided such that on the one hand the cover is prevented from detaching itself independently and on the other hand a covering area can be fully exposed by the cover.
An alternative embodiment is also of advantage, which embodiment enables the swivel plate itself to be held in position in the storage case and/or at the same time allows sharp or pointed articles of daily use, which must be secured against independent detachment for safety reasons, to be held in position.
Certain embodiments have the advantage that the articles of daily use or consumer articles necessary for the most frequent usages can be arranged in the storage case.
The storage cases of some embodiments of the invention may allow insertion in storage pockets such as those provided in wallets, document cases or personal organisers, for example, by appropriate variation of the thicknesses, even in the case of different external dimensions, without these storage pockets being overstretched, which would cause the storage case to unintentionally slide out of the storage pockets.
Further embodiments include a graduation or linear measure, whereby the purpose of such a storage case is positively extended so that various measuring tasks may also be performed.
Because of standardized dimensions, the storage case may be inserted into or removed from a wide variety of wallets, document cases or personal organisers.
In one embodiment, a simple insertion is possible even with a slight canting of the article.
In some embodiments, the recesses are arranged respectively partly in the base plate and the cover plate.
An embodiment is also of advantage, in which thin webs can be used which form a plurality of ribs between the cover plate and the base plate so that a very stable structure of the card-shaped storage case can be obtained even with extremely thin walls for the base plate and cover plate. In addition, the manufacture from plastic in the injection moulding process is simplified, as thinner webs or webs with thin walls can be produced, which with such a thin component can be more easily filled with the plasticised plastic and with several parallel thin webs a honeycomb-like more stable structure can be obtained than with few webs with thick walls.
By the arrangement of connecting webs according to a further embodiment, the regions in which the base plate and the cover plate are actually connected can be predefined.
A further design favours the production of the connection between the base plate and the cover plate by means of welding, for example ultrasonic welding.
In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, the flexibility of the base plate and cover plate in a direction perpendicular to their upper or lower side can be adjusted easily depending on the distance between the individual connecting webs to meet different requirements, so that a corresponding amount of space is obtained on inserting and locking articles of daily use or consumer articles.
Lastly, a design is advantageous, in which defined connecting regions may be formed between the base plate and the cover plate.